Note: This was originally posted August 20, 2007.
Got nothing for a picture, but I do want to say that the 81 is the logical number for Dale Earnhardt Jr. next year. His maternal grandfather, Robert Gee ran the 81, and the 8 in 1978. His driver, mostly Ferrel Harris, ran both the 81 and the 8. In his first race, Farrel made it all happen, when he finished 8th, driving the 81, at the 1978 Firecracker 400 at Daytona.
Ferrel Harris finished 8th, driving the 81, and someone named Dale Earnhardt finished the same race 7th, driving a car for Will Cronkite. By they way, Dale Earnhardt finished 7th in a Ford.
This was right before the man that was to start Earnhardt's career showed up, Rod Osterlund. In 1979, Earnhardt won rookie of the year, and in 1980, Dale Earnhardt won the Winston Cup for the first time, the only time in Cup history that a rookie has won ROTY and the Cup back to back.
Dale Earnhardt went on to win 6 more championships and a total of 76 races with owner Richard Childress, tying the all time record of championships with Richard Petty.
In 1978, a talented car builder named Robert Gee owned a Winston Cup team. He alternately used the numbers 81 and 8 for his drivers Ferrel Harris and Skip Manning. Gee never won a race as an owner, but he won a lot of races as a builder and fabricator. At one point in his career, he helped get an owner named Rick Hendrick his start in racing.
Robert Gee was also the father of a daughter named Brenda. Brenda caught Dale Earnhardt's eye and they were married, and had two children, Kelley and Dale Jr. At the time, Dale was trying to race for a living and working side jobs including welding and changing tires for a tire shop. Money was scarce, and eventually Brenda Gee Earnhardt moved on with her two children, was divorced from Dale Earnhardt, and got remarried. A few years later, Brenda and her new husband suffered a devastating house fire, and she sent Kelley and Dale Jr. to live with their biological father, who was now a famous Nascar driver. By this time, Dale was remarried for the 3rd and final time to Teresa Houston, the daughter of a race car driver. Dale and Teresa took Dale Jr. and Kelley in, and raised them. Dale wasn't there a lot, because he was traveling to race tracks all the time. Teresa took care of the kids. Dale won races, and became one of the best drivers in Nascar history.
Skip ahead a few years. Dale is gone. Dale Jr. is driving for the company that Dale and Teresa started. After a few years of disappointment, Dale Jr. leaves his father's company to drive for Rick Hendrick Racing, a company his maternal grandfather helped get off the ground. Dale wants to take the number that his father secured for him, the very number that his grandfather had raced with, away from his step-mother so he can keep the same number on the race track.
Teresa resists, and eventually the deal falls through. Dale Jr. eventually thinks about what number would be the best, and thinking about the legacy of his mother's dad, will choose the 81.
It has to be this way. It's destiny.
Dale Jr. needs to make the 81 more famous than the 8 has ever been.
It's destiny.
Friday, October 5, 2007
A little Break in the Action
Note: This was posted on July 26, 2007.
Out of respect for Dale Earnhardt, I would ask all fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to stop ripping on Teresa Houston Earnhardt. I make this plea because I'm not sure all of the current Nascar fans understand just how important Teresa Earnhardt has been to this sport.
Teresa came from a racing family. She grew up around the race tracks almost the same way that her husband did. In a lot of ways, Teresa helped make Dale Earnhardt the man that he was. She helped him make business decisions and was a driving force behind the creation of the company that she now fully controls, Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Many of us would have loved to have seen Dale Earnhardt Jr. drive his entire career for DEI. I did. Many of us wish his father had not passed away on 02/18/2001. But he did.
If the old man were still alive, would Dale Earnhardt Jr. be driving for Rick Hendrick next year? I think probably not. Has Teresa Earnhardt made some mistakes since her husband died? Probably. I can't judge that, and neither can about 99.99% of you.
The only thing I know is that Dale Earnhardt always went to were the best racing was. Like father, like son. Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels that he's got a better chance of winning races and championships with Hendrick. After the last few years of disappointments, I feel that Hendrick is the very best place he can be to achieve his goals.
Ladies and Gentlemen, there are factors to this equation that we will probably never know about. Was it more of an equipment issue or a personal issue for Dale Jr.? We'll probably never know. That's between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt, and I think it should stay that way. If you are a father or a mother, or a son or a daughter, would you want millions of people examining your lives every day? I doubt it. Let's let the family business remain with the family. It's not our business.
I'm not saying leave the lady alone because she's a widow, or you disagree with her business decisions. You can disagree with her all you want to, but to be calling a woman whom you don't know a witch or worse is not very nice. Would you want that said about your mother?
Taylor Nichole is not involved in Nascar, but I imagine that she reads a lot of the stuff here on the Internet. I know that Kerry, Kelley, and Dale Jr. are stepchildren to Teresa, but Taylor is her daughter, and if I were her, I would not want to be reading about how my mom is the witch from hell.
Leave Teresa alone. If you don't like her, then don't support her drivers. Just remember that she was very instrumental creating and running the company that gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. his start in racing.
As always, e-mail me at what ever address this site shows, and I'll be happy to read your e-mail, but on this subject, I will say that I'm not going to give an inch on this one. Hate Teresa or don't hate her, that's your choice, but I imagine all the hatred out there is probably hurting not only Taylor, but probably the rest of the kids as well.
I think the Earnhardt family has suffered enough. Leave them alone or go find another sport.
Out of respect for Dale Earnhardt, I would ask all fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to stop ripping on Teresa Houston Earnhardt. I make this plea because I'm not sure all of the current Nascar fans understand just how important Teresa Earnhardt has been to this sport.
Teresa came from a racing family. She grew up around the race tracks almost the same way that her husband did. In a lot of ways, Teresa helped make Dale Earnhardt the man that he was. She helped him make business decisions and was a driving force behind the creation of the company that she now fully controls, Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Many of us would have loved to have seen Dale Earnhardt Jr. drive his entire career for DEI. I did. Many of us wish his father had not passed away on 02/18/2001. But he did.
If the old man were still alive, would Dale Earnhardt Jr. be driving for Rick Hendrick next year? I think probably not. Has Teresa Earnhardt made some mistakes since her husband died? Probably. I can't judge that, and neither can about 99.99% of you.
The only thing I know is that Dale Earnhardt always went to were the best racing was. Like father, like son. Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels that he's got a better chance of winning races and championships with Hendrick. After the last few years of disappointments, I feel that Hendrick is the very best place he can be to achieve his goals.
Ladies and Gentlemen, there are factors to this equation that we will probably never know about. Was it more of an equipment issue or a personal issue for Dale Jr.? We'll probably never know. That's between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt, and I think it should stay that way. If you are a father or a mother, or a son or a daughter, would you want millions of people examining your lives every day? I doubt it. Let's let the family business remain with the family. It's not our business.
I'm not saying leave the lady alone because she's a widow, or you disagree with her business decisions. You can disagree with her all you want to, but to be calling a woman whom you don't know a witch or worse is not very nice. Would you want that said about your mother?
Taylor Nichole is not involved in Nascar, but I imagine that she reads a lot of the stuff here on the Internet. I know that Kerry, Kelley, and Dale Jr. are stepchildren to Teresa, but Taylor is her daughter, and if I were her, I would not want to be reading about how my mom is the witch from hell.
Leave Teresa alone. If you don't like her, then don't support her drivers. Just remember that she was very instrumental creating and running the company that gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. his start in racing.
As always, e-mail me at what ever address this site shows, and I'll be happy to read your e-mail, but on this subject, I will say that I'm not going to give an inch on this one. Hate Teresa or don't hate her, that's your choice, but I imagine all the hatred out there is probably hurting not only Taylor, but probably the rest of the kids as well.
I think the Earnhardt family has suffered enough. Leave them alone or go find another sport.
Rules? What Rules?
Note: This was originally posted on July 7, 2007.
The driver pictured above is not Kyle Petty, but he works for Kyle, and seems to think like Kyle. The driver pictured above is Bobby Labonte, and he drives the 43 Dodge.
Bobby Labonte, as is Kyle Petty, is a professional. Both drivers have been around the sport for a long time, both have wins, and both have seen bad, worse, and worst.
The situation in Nascar today is in some ways unique, but not completely new. Nascar has always been about keeping the racing exciting and close. The racing today is closer than ever. When is the last time you saw a driver win by a lap or more? That used to be common as late as the 1980's. In this way, Nascar has succeeded.
With the new Car Of Tomorrow, or COT, as it is known, Nascar has been handing down some pretty stiff penalties for changing anything on the body of the car. So far, 3 crew chiefs have been sent home for 6 races, and teams have each been penalized 100 owners and drivers points. The $100,000 penalties are nothing, really though.
$100,000 is like pocket change to these guys. 100 points is not.
Drivers simply cannot afford the penalties in points. They work hard for every single point, and when they get penalized 100 points, it's hard to come back from that. The three drivers in question seem to be recovering well, but the fact remains that every point is hard to earn in this sport.
Crew chiefs are not quite as famous in this sport as the drivers are. Perhaps they ought to be. Crew chiefs ultimately have all rule over the finished car that goes onto the track. The crew chief is given the job of making sure that the car is as fast as possible.
The crew chief has many options available. He can tweak the engine or the chassis. Nascar has hard and fast rules concerning the engine. The engine must be exactly 358 cubic inches in displacement. The crew chief can only use certain sized carbs and intakes on their engines. The exhausts are measured for size. The tweaks that the crew chief can use are the internal engine parts, such as pistons, valves, lifters, springs, crankshaft's, camshafts, etc.
On the chassis, crew chiefs can change, somewhat, the geometry of the suspension and the components used. Springs, shocks, etc. can be experimented with. The amount of spring force and angle can be changed. Spring rubbers can be applied. A veritable playground of chassis options exist crew chiefs.
Back in day, there was a crew chief named Smokey Yunick. Smokey had a lot of ways to beat Nascar, back in the day. I'll give you one example of that.
Back in the day, as we say, Smokey was given a certain fuel tank size as a rule of law by Nascar. To give his driver a bit more of an advantage, Smokey made a fuel line from the gas tank to the carb that circled around several times, and was several times longer than it needed to be. The result? That driver had almost a gallon of gas more than his peers on the track.
It's this kind of innovation that has separated Nascar from the other racing series. Nascar crew chiefs are responsible for giving their drivers that extra 1/10 of a second advantage around the track. Crew chiefs in Nascar have always looked for that extra edge to give their driver an advantage. It's just part of Nascar. Did Smokey cheat? Yeah, probably, but Nascar had never made any determination about the length of fuel lines. Up to that point. That's what crew chiefs do: Try to find a little extra advantage.
Now Nascar is trying to take that ability away. To me, I think Nascar should keep the traditions that helped grow the sport from a South Eastern US favorite to the national and even worldwide sport it has become.
Message to Nascar: Don't mess with success.
The driver pictured above is not Kyle Petty, but he works for Kyle, and seems to think like Kyle. The driver pictured above is Bobby Labonte, and he drives the 43 Dodge.
Bobby Labonte, as is Kyle Petty, is a professional. Both drivers have been around the sport for a long time, both have wins, and both have seen bad, worse, and worst.
The situation in Nascar today is in some ways unique, but not completely new. Nascar has always been about keeping the racing exciting and close. The racing today is closer than ever. When is the last time you saw a driver win by a lap or more? That used to be common as late as the 1980's. In this way, Nascar has succeeded.
With the new Car Of Tomorrow, or COT, as it is known, Nascar has been handing down some pretty stiff penalties for changing anything on the body of the car. So far, 3 crew chiefs have been sent home for 6 races, and teams have each been penalized 100 owners and drivers points. The $100,000 penalties are nothing, really though.
$100,000 is like pocket change to these guys. 100 points is not.
Drivers simply cannot afford the penalties in points. They work hard for every single point, and when they get penalized 100 points, it's hard to come back from that. The three drivers in question seem to be recovering well, but the fact remains that every point is hard to earn in this sport.
Crew chiefs are not quite as famous in this sport as the drivers are. Perhaps they ought to be. Crew chiefs ultimately have all rule over the finished car that goes onto the track. The crew chief is given the job of making sure that the car is as fast as possible.
The crew chief has many options available. He can tweak the engine or the chassis. Nascar has hard and fast rules concerning the engine. The engine must be exactly 358 cubic inches in displacement. The crew chief can only use certain sized carbs and intakes on their engines. The exhausts are measured for size. The tweaks that the crew chief can use are the internal engine parts, such as pistons, valves, lifters, springs, crankshaft's, camshafts, etc.
On the chassis, crew chiefs can change, somewhat, the geometry of the suspension and the components used. Springs, shocks, etc. can be experimented with. The amount of spring force and angle can be changed. Spring rubbers can be applied. A veritable playground of chassis options exist crew chiefs.
Back in day, there was a crew chief named Smokey Yunick. Smokey had a lot of ways to beat Nascar, back in the day. I'll give you one example of that.
Back in the day, as we say, Smokey was given a certain fuel tank size as a rule of law by Nascar. To give his driver a bit more of an advantage, Smokey made a fuel line from the gas tank to the carb that circled around several times, and was several times longer than it needed to be. The result? That driver had almost a gallon of gas more than his peers on the track.
It's this kind of innovation that has separated Nascar from the other racing series. Nascar crew chiefs are responsible for giving their drivers that extra 1/10 of a second advantage around the track. Crew chiefs in Nascar have always looked for that extra edge to give their driver an advantage. It's just part of Nascar. Did Smokey cheat? Yeah, probably, but Nascar had never made any determination about the length of fuel lines. Up to that point. That's what crew chiefs do: Try to find a little extra advantage.
Now Nascar is trying to take that ability away. To me, I think Nascar should keep the traditions that helped grow the sport from a South Eastern US favorite to the national and even worldwide sport it has become.
Message to Nascar: Don't mess with success.
What makes a Fan a "True Fan"?
Note: This was originally posted June 19, 2007.
I've been taking the relative temperature of the Nascar world again, as usual by reading message board. Some boards are a delight to read. Some are rather idiotic, and some are down right infantile.
Of course, the biggest subject on pretty much any message board this year is the ongoing saga of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Where will he go? Will he get to keep the 8? Will Budweiser stay with him?
At least 1 of those questions has finally been answered, with Dale Jr. announcing last week that he will be driving for Rick Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 and beyond. The questions about his number and sponsorship remain, however.
On virtually message board I've read over the past week, I've seen at least a few fans report that they've "had enough", that they can no longer be fans of Junior if he drives for Hendrick, the latter of whom I've heard referred to as the "criminal", the "felon", and a few descriptive terms that don't bare repeating on this blog.
For those that don't know, Rick Hendrick was placed under house arrest after pleading guilty for mail fraud about 10 years, and paid some huge fines as well. He was also denied any contact during that period with his two main businesses, his racing teams and his car dealerships. At around the same time, Hendrick was also diagnosed with leukemia, and his poor health was the reason for his house arrest, rather than serving prison time. The year was 1997, and Rick basically was not at the track, or at his shops for a year or so. Even without his boss' hands on support, Jeff Gordon won the Winston Cup that year, and at virtually every opportunity supported his boss' fight for his life by giving as many public plugs to the Leukemia Foundation as possible, including sporting a decal on his in car camera panel with the number "1-800-Marrow" as a way for fans to donate to the foundation that was leading in research to safe the lives of patients such as Rick Hendrick.
As far as I know, Rick's leukemia is in full remission, and 10 years later, he appears to be reasonably fit and healthy. Jeff Gordon's unfailing support of his boss in the hard times is what has undoubtedly helped earn the support of Rick Hendrick for Jeff, and basically a lifetime contract between the two. Lifetime contracts are virtually unheard of in Nascar, especially during the last 15 years or so. I firmly believe that if Jeff Gordon wanted to still be driving the 24 Chevy at age 60, Rick Hendrick's shop would prepare the best equipment available for Jeff.
I imagine that virtually every other Nascar driver out there, and drivers of every other series, any athlete on any team anywhere would love to have a relationship with their owner like Gordon has with Hendrick. Both have been unfailingly loyal to each other, and I firmly believe that Jeff would not have achieved nearly as much success as he had without that commitment from his owner.
Could Dale Earnhardt Jr. have driven his entire career for Dale Earnhardt Inc.? Of course he could have. Dale Jr. has won 17 Cup wins, 22 Busch series wins, and 1 All Star race driving for DEI. Dale Jr. has also seen drivers who have driven less races than him win championships already. Matt Kenseth has won a championship, but hasn't won an many races as Junior. The same can be said for Kurt Busch. Junior also has watched his friend Jimmie Johnson come from virtually nowhere, and win an amazing 27 Cup races and a championship in only 5 full years of Cup racing. Johnson was not a 2 time Busch champ as was Junior. Johnson only has 1 Busch win in his entire career.
So why is Jr. leaving DEI? His record isn't that bad, in fact it's pretty good. A lot of drivers who have been driving for a decade or more longer than Dale Jr. would love to have his stats. Junior obviously has had some good equipment over the years. Nobody wins 17 races with poor equipment in a sport as competitive as this.
I don't think the equipment has much to do with it. Jr. knows they can improve that situation, and already have been working toward that goal with the announcement that DEI and Richard Childress Racing will be working together on their engine programs. Richie Gilmore, DEI's engine guru has been working more closely with the existing engine program at DEI, and the results have already paid off. Junior has praised his engines as of late, which is much better than earlier this year and over the last 2 years or so, when he often complained about a lack of horsepower. Tony Eury Jr. and Tony Gibson have been doing a better job this year with the chassis setups. Gone are the days when they threw changes at the car just to see what worked and what wouldn't. Junior has become much more confident in calling for his own detailed changes with Tony Gibson over the last few weeks as well, and more than often, they pay off.
Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Jr. have had what has been described many times as a strained relationship. Apparently this is nothing new, but dates back to the time when Dale Jr. and his sister Kelly came to live with their dad and step-mom when Junior was still a young child. Relationships between step-parents and children are often strained. Heck, relationships between parents and children are often strained as well. Dale Jr.'s relationship with his father was often not a happy one in his teenage years. It was really only when Dale Jr. started driving and winning races that he and his father became truly close.
Dale Earnhart was a racer. He had little time for much else, for most of his life. His doubts about Dale Jr. early in Junior's career have been documented in many places, but when he saw that his son was committed to the job at hand, he became his son's biggest fan. Dale became not only Junior's father, in a real sense, but his mentor, his teacher, and a boss that supported his son, the driver. Dale's own career was reaching its twilight years, and I honestly think that he died a happy man, knowing that his son was going to be successful in this, the sport that he loved with a passion unmatched by almost all others.
Would Dale be happy with Junior's decision to leave the company business? I guess we'll never know for sure, but I do know one thing. If Dale had become unhappy with Richard Childress as his owner, he would have left. Racers race, and the ultimate goal of racing is to win. Whatever keeps you from winning is something to be concerned about. In Junior's case, I think it's mainly the feeling that he doesn't like the direction that the family business has taken over the last few years. He feels like he know longer has an owner who supports him, but will happily trade barbs with him in newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, of all places. I think most of this year, Junior has felt like it's him and Kelly against the world, and with Rick Hendrick, he sees a man his father respected who's willing to take Junior to the next level, which is winning championships.
I personally feel that if Dale Earnhardt were still alive, Dale Jr. would be happily driving for DEI for the rest of his career. Dale Earnhardt is gone though, and though his legacy lives on, nothing will ever bring him back. Dale Jr. is probably a different person in some ways than he would be were his dad still alive. But at heart, Teresa Earnhardt needs to know one thing. Junior can be a celebrity, and will continue to be, but in the end, Dale Jr. chose racing.
As I said above, racers race. Racers always choose racing. Rick Hendrick is giving Junior an opportunity to race and more importantly, to win. I think Dale would support that decision.
So, you folks that are planning to throw your Dale Junior die cast cars in the dumpster? Send 'em to me. I'll even pay for the shipping.
I've been taking the relative temperature of the Nascar world again, as usual by reading message board. Some boards are a delight to read. Some are rather idiotic, and some are down right infantile.
Of course, the biggest subject on pretty much any message board this year is the ongoing saga of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Where will he go? Will he get to keep the 8? Will Budweiser stay with him?
At least 1 of those questions has finally been answered, with Dale Jr. announcing last week that he will be driving for Rick Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 and beyond. The questions about his number and sponsorship remain, however.
On virtually message board I've read over the past week, I've seen at least a few fans report that they've "had enough", that they can no longer be fans of Junior if he drives for Hendrick, the latter of whom I've heard referred to as the "criminal", the "felon", and a few descriptive terms that don't bare repeating on this blog.
For those that don't know, Rick Hendrick was placed under house arrest after pleading guilty for mail fraud about 10 years, and paid some huge fines as well. He was also denied any contact during that period with his two main businesses, his racing teams and his car dealerships. At around the same time, Hendrick was also diagnosed with leukemia, and his poor health was the reason for his house arrest, rather than serving prison time. The year was 1997, and Rick basically was not at the track, or at his shops for a year or so. Even without his boss' hands on support, Jeff Gordon won the Winston Cup that year, and at virtually every opportunity supported his boss' fight for his life by giving as many public plugs to the Leukemia Foundation as possible, including sporting a decal on his in car camera panel with the number "1-800-Marrow" as a way for fans to donate to the foundation that was leading in research to safe the lives of patients such as Rick Hendrick.
As far as I know, Rick's leukemia is in full remission, and 10 years later, he appears to be reasonably fit and healthy. Jeff Gordon's unfailing support of his boss in the hard times is what has undoubtedly helped earn the support of Rick Hendrick for Jeff, and basically a lifetime contract between the two. Lifetime contracts are virtually unheard of in Nascar, especially during the last 15 years or so. I firmly believe that if Jeff Gordon wanted to still be driving the 24 Chevy at age 60, Rick Hendrick's shop would prepare the best equipment available for Jeff.
I imagine that virtually every other Nascar driver out there, and drivers of every other series, any athlete on any team anywhere would love to have a relationship with their owner like Gordon has with Hendrick. Both have been unfailingly loyal to each other, and I firmly believe that Jeff would not have achieved nearly as much success as he had without that commitment from his owner.
Could Dale Earnhardt Jr. have driven his entire career for Dale Earnhardt Inc.? Of course he could have. Dale Jr. has won 17 Cup wins, 22 Busch series wins, and 1 All Star race driving for DEI. Dale Jr. has also seen drivers who have driven less races than him win championships already. Matt Kenseth has won a championship, but hasn't won an many races as Junior. The same can be said for Kurt Busch. Junior also has watched his friend Jimmie Johnson come from virtually nowhere, and win an amazing 27 Cup races and a championship in only 5 full years of Cup racing. Johnson was not a 2 time Busch champ as was Junior. Johnson only has 1 Busch win in his entire career.
So why is Jr. leaving DEI? His record isn't that bad, in fact it's pretty good. A lot of drivers who have been driving for a decade or more longer than Dale Jr. would love to have his stats. Junior obviously has had some good equipment over the years. Nobody wins 17 races with poor equipment in a sport as competitive as this.
I don't think the equipment has much to do with it. Jr. knows they can improve that situation, and already have been working toward that goal with the announcement that DEI and Richard Childress Racing will be working together on their engine programs. Richie Gilmore, DEI's engine guru has been working more closely with the existing engine program at DEI, and the results have already paid off. Junior has praised his engines as of late, which is much better than earlier this year and over the last 2 years or so, when he often complained about a lack of horsepower. Tony Eury Jr. and Tony Gibson have been doing a better job this year with the chassis setups. Gone are the days when they threw changes at the car just to see what worked and what wouldn't. Junior has become much more confident in calling for his own detailed changes with Tony Gibson over the last few weeks as well, and more than often, they pay off.
Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Jr. have had what has been described many times as a strained relationship. Apparently this is nothing new, but dates back to the time when Dale Jr. and his sister Kelly came to live with their dad and step-mom when Junior was still a young child. Relationships between step-parents and children are often strained. Heck, relationships between parents and children are often strained as well. Dale Jr.'s relationship with his father was often not a happy one in his teenage years. It was really only when Dale Jr. started driving and winning races that he and his father became truly close.
Dale Earnhart was a racer. He had little time for much else, for most of his life. His doubts about Dale Jr. early in Junior's career have been documented in many places, but when he saw that his son was committed to the job at hand, he became his son's biggest fan. Dale became not only Junior's father, in a real sense, but his mentor, his teacher, and a boss that supported his son, the driver. Dale's own career was reaching its twilight years, and I honestly think that he died a happy man, knowing that his son was going to be successful in this, the sport that he loved with a passion unmatched by almost all others.
Would Dale be happy with Junior's decision to leave the company business? I guess we'll never know for sure, but I do know one thing. If Dale had become unhappy with Richard Childress as his owner, he would have left. Racers race, and the ultimate goal of racing is to win. Whatever keeps you from winning is something to be concerned about. In Junior's case, I think it's mainly the feeling that he doesn't like the direction that the family business has taken over the last few years. He feels like he know longer has an owner who supports him, but will happily trade barbs with him in newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, of all places. I think most of this year, Junior has felt like it's him and Kelly against the world, and with Rick Hendrick, he sees a man his father respected who's willing to take Junior to the next level, which is winning championships.
I personally feel that if Dale Earnhardt were still alive, Dale Jr. would be happily driving for DEI for the rest of his career. Dale Earnhardt is gone though, and though his legacy lives on, nothing will ever bring him back. Dale Jr. is probably a different person in some ways than he would be were his dad still alive. But at heart, Teresa Earnhardt needs to know one thing. Junior can be a celebrity, and will continue to be, but in the end, Dale Jr. chose racing.
As I said above, racers race. Racers always choose racing. Rick Hendrick is giving Junior an opportunity to race and more importantly, to win. I think Dale would support that decision.
So, you folks that are planning to throw your Dale Junior die cast cars in the dumpster? Send 'em to me. I'll even pay for the shipping.
Running the Numbers: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Note: This was originally posted June 17, 2007.
It's finally official, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive for Rick Hendrick Racing for the next 5 years, apparently in the ride to be vacated by the somewhat stunned Kyle Busch.
First of all, as a fan of Dale Jr., I'm thrilled that he's going to drive for one of the best, if not the best owners in the sport. Rick Hendrick has celebrated 159 wins in the Cup series since he first began entering cars in races back in 1984. That's not a bad winning percentage. A lot of those wins, 79, to be exact, are from long time driver Jeff Gordon. 27 more of them are from relative newcomer Jimmie Johnson. About 12 of those 159 are from a man some of you remember, Terry Labonte.
Jeff has won 4 championships for Hendrick. Jimmie has won 1. Terry Labonte won the other championship that Rick Hendrick has to his credit. Terry won that championship and all those races in the 5 Chevy.
A lot of people have been saying since Wednesday of last week that they hope that Teresa Earnhardt will give up rights to the 8 number so that it may follow Dale Jr. to Hendrick. A lot of folks have also pointed out that Rick and Teresa could trade numbers; Teresa gets the 5 and Hendrick gets the 8.
Folks, I don't know that it will happen. And I'm not just talking about Teresa wanting to hold on to the 8.
Rick Hendrick's first car in the Cup series was the 5, driven by Geoffrey Bodine. Bodine got Hendrick's first wins in the cup series. Terry Labonte won a championship for Rick Hendrick in the 5 car in 1996. I can see why Rick might want to hold on to the 5. I wouldn't blame him if he did.
Teresa Earnhardt also has reasons to hold on to the 8 as well. It was Dale Sr.'s father, Ralph's number. It was the number of the car that Dale Sr. first raced in the Cup series. It is also the number which has won DEI most of it's wins in the Cup series. 17 wins is 17 wins, and so far that number has worked out pretty well for DEI.
Sponsorships are completely a different deal. Budweiser is signed through 2008 with DEI, but they can certainly jump ship and follow Dale Jr. to Hendrick if they want to. Remember, old time fans of the sport remember Budweiser on Rick Hendrick's own 25 Chevy back in the 1990's.
Even if Budweiser doesn't follow Dale Jr. to Hendrick, I don't think it will be a problem. Hendrick already has sponsors waiting in the wings, and Kelloggs and GMAC would love to have a guy in their car who is the most popular in all of Nascar Nextel Cup.
Jr. fans, the number is not worth as much as the driver and the sponsorship. Maybe it's time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to make another number famous.
It's finally official, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive for Rick Hendrick Racing for the next 5 years, apparently in the ride to be vacated by the somewhat stunned Kyle Busch.
First of all, as a fan of Dale Jr., I'm thrilled that he's going to drive for one of the best, if not the best owners in the sport. Rick Hendrick has celebrated 159 wins in the Cup series since he first began entering cars in races back in 1984. That's not a bad winning percentage. A lot of those wins, 79, to be exact, are from long time driver Jeff Gordon. 27 more of them are from relative newcomer Jimmie Johnson. About 12 of those 159 are from a man some of you remember, Terry Labonte.
Jeff has won 4 championships for Hendrick. Jimmie has won 1. Terry Labonte won the other championship that Rick Hendrick has to his credit. Terry won that championship and all those races in the 5 Chevy.
A lot of people have been saying since Wednesday of last week that they hope that Teresa Earnhardt will give up rights to the 8 number so that it may follow Dale Jr. to Hendrick. A lot of folks have also pointed out that Rick and Teresa could trade numbers; Teresa gets the 5 and Hendrick gets the 8.
Folks, I don't know that it will happen. And I'm not just talking about Teresa wanting to hold on to the 8.
Rick Hendrick's first car in the Cup series was the 5, driven by Geoffrey Bodine. Bodine got Hendrick's first wins in the cup series. Terry Labonte won a championship for Rick Hendrick in the 5 car in 1996. I can see why Rick might want to hold on to the 5. I wouldn't blame him if he did.
Teresa Earnhardt also has reasons to hold on to the 8 as well. It was Dale Sr.'s father, Ralph's number. It was the number of the car that Dale Sr. first raced in the Cup series. It is also the number which has won DEI most of it's wins in the Cup series. 17 wins is 17 wins, and so far that number has worked out pretty well for DEI.
Sponsorships are completely a different deal. Budweiser is signed through 2008 with DEI, but they can certainly jump ship and follow Dale Jr. to Hendrick if they want to. Remember, old time fans of the sport remember Budweiser on Rick Hendrick's own 25 Chevy back in the 1990's.
Even if Budweiser doesn't follow Dale Jr. to Hendrick, I don't think it will be a problem. Hendrick already has sponsors waiting in the wings, and Kelloggs and GMAC would love to have a guy in their car who is the most popular in all of Nascar Nextel Cup.
Jr. fans, the number is not worth as much as the driver and the sponsorship. Maybe it's time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to make another number famous.
TNT's new star commentator, Kyle Petty
Note: This was originally posted June 11, 2007.
Let me be clear. I'm not a Bill Webber fan. Not at all. I'm glad he's only on for 6 races this year. I have to say that I'm glad that Larry Mac is jumping ship from Fox for these same 6 races. I like Wally Dallenbach as well. He's a pretty good guy, with a sardonic wit, but I like him. Let me say most of all I miss Benny Parsons. BP was a great foil for Wally's wit, and just fit in so well on the broadcasts on TNT and NBC since 2001.
I do have to say that I was very impressed by Kyle Petty's performance in the booth. Kyle brings a ton of information and recent driving experience to the game. Kyle is a very candid color commentator and I appreciated him being in the booth to balance out the tooth-ache like pain that I felt almost every time Bill Webber opened his mouth.
It's not that I don't like Bill Webber. I think he's a good guy, but I believe strongly that he should be a pit road reporter, rather than a lap by lap anchor. If Bestwick was still with TNT, I'd vote for him. Bestwick is with ESPN now, and doing a decent job, but I wish they'd let him do more.
And as far as ESPN goes, I really like Dr. Jerry Punch. I like Rusty Wallace, but only to a certain point. I get the feeling that the rest of the crew will not criticize anything that Steven Wallace does on the track for fear of creating an embarrassing situation for owner/father Rusty. On the whole, I really prefer Dale Jarrett on the Busch series broadcasts. He has done a great job filling in for Rusty this year.
Kyle Petty just adds something to the broadcast, at least for me. He's a very open person, and he's candid in his comments. As a fan, it's nice to see drivers in the booth saying what they think while events are unfolding. Kyle has been awesome on Speed TV's Trading Paint, and he's a very good replacement for Benny Parsons in the TNT booth this season. I hope that whenever Kyle retires, he'll be back in the booth with TNT or some other network. Kyle Petty has been driving since 1979 on a professional basis, and his knowledge, experience, and ability to articulate his thoughts will be a blessing to all the fans out there, for hopefully a very long time.
Kyle's first appearance in the booth was complicated by a long rain delay, which makes for some scrambling by the producers of the broadcast. They all have to keep the audience interested, and Kyle performed superbly in his interviews, one edited, one not, with David Pearson and then when he talked live to his father, the King, Richard Petty.
I think Kyle is going to be great on TNT, and I hope we see him in the booth a lot when he finally hangs up the helmet for the last time.
Let me be clear. I'm not a Bill Webber fan. Not at all. I'm glad he's only on for 6 races this year. I have to say that I'm glad that Larry Mac is jumping ship from Fox for these same 6 races. I like Wally Dallenbach as well. He's a pretty good guy, with a sardonic wit, but I like him. Let me say most of all I miss Benny Parsons. BP was a great foil for Wally's wit, and just fit in so well on the broadcasts on TNT and NBC since 2001.
I do have to say that I was very impressed by Kyle Petty's performance in the booth. Kyle brings a ton of information and recent driving experience to the game. Kyle is a very candid color commentator and I appreciated him being in the booth to balance out the tooth-ache like pain that I felt almost every time Bill Webber opened his mouth.
It's not that I don't like Bill Webber. I think he's a good guy, but I believe strongly that he should be a pit road reporter, rather than a lap by lap anchor. If Bestwick was still with TNT, I'd vote for him. Bestwick is with ESPN now, and doing a decent job, but I wish they'd let him do more.
And as far as ESPN goes, I really like Dr. Jerry Punch. I like Rusty Wallace, but only to a certain point. I get the feeling that the rest of the crew will not criticize anything that Steven Wallace does on the track for fear of creating an embarrassing situation for owner/father Rusty. On the whole, I really prefer Dale Jarrett on the Busch series broadcasts. He has done a great job filling in for Rusty this year.
Kyle Petty just adds something to the broadcast, at least for me. He's a very open person, and he's candid in his comments. As a fan, it's nice to see drivers in the booth saying what they think while events are unfolding. Kyle has been awesome on Speed TV's Trading Paint, and he's a very good replacement for Benny Parsons in the TNT booth this season. I hope that whenever Kyle retires, he'll be back in the booth with TNT or some other network. Kyle Petty has been driving since 1979 on a professional basis, and his knowledge, experience, and ability to articulate his thoughts will be a blessing to all the fans out there, for hopefully a very long time.
Kyle's first appearance in the booth was complicated by a long rain delay, which makes for some scrambling by the producers of the broadcast. They all have to keep the audience interested, and Kyle performed superbly in his interviews, one edited, one not, with David Pearson and then when he talked live to his father, the King, Richard Petty.
I think Kyle is going to be great on TNT, and I hope we see him in the booth a lot when he finally hangs up the helmet for the last time.
Droughts threaten country, yet Gordon wins a rain shortened race!
Note: This was originally posted June 10, 2007.
Is there a conspiracy here? Did Jeff Gordon and Steve Letart command the rain gods today? Does Nascar control the weather? I've seen all these opinions thrown around on the racing message boards today, and I have to say No, Nascar does not control the weather.
Nascar does control when the caution flag is thrown though.
After endless minutes spent watching drivers such as Robby Gordon and Jimmie Johnson drive around a long track with left front tires down, smoking, flaming, and leaving the dreaded debris all over the 2.5 mile triangle which is Pocono Raceway, one has to wonder why Nascar immediately threw the caution, and ultimately the red flag only when the leader's ailing car was about to lose the lead to the second place car?
Ryan Newman was at Jeff's door when the caution flew. Jeff had already been complaining about rain for about 2 laps. The rain was certainly there, but why throw the flag at that instance? Why, why, indeed.
Certainly the rain caused the end of the race. I cannot dispute that. If Nascar had left the yellow flag in it's pocket for about one second longer, Ryan Newman, and not Jeff Gordon would have had the win.
Nascar is all about parity, or used to be. This year Rick Hendrick Racing has won 10 out of 14 Cup races this year. That's TEN out of FOURTEEN! Chevrolet has won 13 out of 14 this year. Back in the day, as they say, Big Bill or Little Bill would have made some rule changes to prevent this from becoming a season dominated by one team, much less one owner. Brian France, take a lesson from your father and your grandfather. Fans of this sport don't like seeing the same 2 or 3 drivers win every race. They begin to turn off the television. The start creating empty seats at the race tracks by the magic of making their bodies invisible, or by not buying tickets. Probably by not buying tickets, but I'm still researching that. I did hear the phrase "butts in the seats" today, and for one, I don't appreciate being thought of as solely a "butt in the seat". If my butt is in that seat, it's because I paid a lot of money to place my butt there. Money is something we make by trading our skills for pay. Butts in the seat are what pay a lot of the bills for Nascar. Butts that buy other goods and services pay the rest of the bills, by supporting the sponsors. If you haven't been to a Cup race lately, I'd invite you to check out the prices for seats. They're not cheap, folks.
Nascar needs to do something soon, because after watching a race like I did today, I'm tempted to go outside and work in the yard next Sunday. As much as I love this sport, and as much as I think of the drivers the put on the show every week, I'm getting tired of a season dominated by drivers and car owners that have perpetual problems, yet seem to win every week.
Is there a conspiracy here? Did Jeff Gordon and Steve Letart command the rain gods today? Does Nascar control the weather? I've seen all these opinions thrown around on the racing message boards today, and I have to say No, Nascar does not control the weather.
Nascar does control when the caution flag is thrown though.
After endless minutes spent watching drivers such as Robby Gordon and Jimmie Johnson drive around a long track with left front tires down, smoking, flaming, and leaving the dreaded debris all over the 2.5 mile triangle which is Pocono Raceway, one has to wonder why Nascar immediately threw the caution, and ultimately the red flag only when the leader's ailing car was about to lose the lead to the second place car?
Ryan Newman was at Jeff's door when the caution flew. Jeff had already been complaining about rain for about 2 laps. The rain was certainly there, but why throw the flag at that instance? Why, why, indeed.
Certainly the rain caused the end of the race. I cannot dispute that. If Nascar had left the yellow flag in it's pocket for about one second longer, Ryan Newman, and not Jeff Gordon would have had the win.
Nascar is all about parity, or used to be. This year Rick Hendrick Racing has won 10 out of 14 Cup races this year. That's TEN out of FOURTEEN! Chevrolet has won 13 out of 14 this year. Back in the day, as they say, Big Bill or Little Bill would have made some rule changes to prevent this from becoming a season dominated by one team, much less one owner. Brian France, take a lesson from your father and your grandfather. Fans of this sport don't like seeing the same 2 or 3 drivers win every race. They begin to turn off the television. The start creating empty seats at the race tracks by the magic of making their bodies invisible, or by not buying tickets. Probably by not buying tickets, but I'm still researching that. I did hear the phrase "butts in the seats" today, and for one, I don't appreciate being thought of as solely a "butt in the seat". If my butt is in that seat, it's because I paid a lot of money to place my butt there. Money is something we make by trading our skills for pay. Butts in the seat are what pay a lot of the bills for Nascar. Butts that buy other goods and services pay the rest of the bills, by supporting the sponsors. If you haven't been to a Cup race lately, I'd invite you to check out the prices for seats. They're not cheap, folks.
Nascar needs to do something soon, because after watching a race like I did today, I'm tempted to go outside and work in the yard next Sunday. As much as I love this sport, and as much as I think of the drivers the put on the show every week, I'm getting tired of a season dominated by drivers and car owners that have perpetual problems, yet seem to win every week.
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